Ch.3636. The Industrial City of Vulcanus (3)

Meanwhile, this unexpected peace had come not only to those who had escaped but also to those gathered around the temple within the city.

“This takes care of the surroundings… for now…”

“Ah, High Priest. You’ve arrived?”

As the High Priest, who was in charge of the largest branch of the Vulcanus Temple in the industrial city, spoke to the Millenary Commander of the City Defense Corps, the situation around the temple was gradually being brought under control.

The priests and mid-rank personnel were knocking out and restraining citizens to prevent riots, with lethal force authorized only in exceptional cases when restraint wasn’t possible.

Of course, while all citizens were equal, some were inevitably “more equal” than others.

Naturally, those who were “more equal” were subdued with respect.

Meanwhile, the merely equal ones typically lost limbs at minimum, with some simply killed or abandoned as “not worth saving.”

Anyway, in the area that had temporarily regained stability…

“Too many… too many have died…”

The High Priest, with tears in his eyes, lamented as he gazed at the blood-red sky.

The most technologically advanced city in the Roman Empire had been deemed irreparable after citizens killed each other and destroyed everything.

Currently, only the temple and a few nearby buildings remained intact, and less than 40% of citizens still had all their limbs attached.

Worse still, there might be no possibility of treating the citizens who had gone mad due to the appearance of that evil god.

Just as the two leaders of the city, who had privately realized that the city was effectively ruined, were sighing deeply while looking at the burning cityscape…

“…?”

Their eyes caught sight of thousands of madmen frantically running toward their area from the distance.

“High Priest, those people…”

“Judging by their attire, they don’t appear to be citizens. Look at their hideous appearance.”

As the High Priest noted, most of the thousands of madmen rushing toward them in a frenzy of vengeance were carrying tools, wearing handcuffs or shackles, and bearing marks where flesh had been torn away by whips.

Some were even from races not considered human in the Roman Empire, making their identity immediately recognizable.

Slaves—and from the looks of it, low-grade ones used only for simple labor.

“Raise the barricades!”

“Ready your spears!”

These rioters, with bodies broken from harsh labor, wielding only tools as weapons and barely covered in scraps of cloth, could easily be handled by trained civilians or even the lowest-ranking temple acolytes who could use basic holy magic three times a day.

However, the problem was, as always, their numbers.

The group, which appeared to number over 5,000, was continuously growing, and included some demi-humans with physical abilities superior to humans. One misstep could result in being buried among them and dismembered.

In contrast, the most numerous among those who maintained their sanity were the lowest-ranking (apprentice) priests, who numbered barely 400…

But they had about 50 mid-rank and higher personnel—Centurions, Millenary Commanders, high-ranking temple officials, and various elite personnel—plus approximately 30 lower-ranking priests.

They judged that a few thousand rioters couldn’t break through their defenses, and they were right.

CRASH!

SQUELCH!

As some rioters charged the barricades with their bodies, apprentice priests behind the barricades thrust their spears with all their might, their physical abilities enhanced by holy magic.

Even apprentice priests could exert superhuman strength through their mana manipulation and holy magic enhancement, allowing their spears to easily tear through flesh and crush bone.

And as the slaves at the front died and became part of the barricade, naturally reinforcing it…

“《Fire Storm》!!”

“《Fire Ball》!”

“《Holy Judgment: Flame》!!”

Area-of-effect magical attacks cast by mages and priests struck the crowd, instantly reducing thousands of slaves to ashes.

A storm of flames engulfed the slaves, volleyball-sized fireballs exploded to incinerate dozens at a time, and tens of pillars of fire struck the ground from the sky.

The combination of high-firepower area spells—level 3-4 elemental fire magic and the level 3 holy magic “Holy Judgment,” a specialty of priests focused on holy magic—was nothing short of catastrophic.

A tornado wreathed in flames blocked a passage and moved according to the mage’s control, swallowing slaves and spitting out ashes.

Volleyball-sized fireballs instantly consumed hundreds of clustered slaves upon impact, turning them into shriveled black masses.

The pillars of flame striking from the sky were so powerful they didn’t even leave corpses behind. In an instant, more than half of the visible slaves had effectively vaporized.

“Move out, prepare yourselves!”

“Yes, sir!”

Thus, under the commander’s judgment that all that remained was to cut down the stragglers,

mid-rank and higher warriors, Centurions, Millenary Commanders, temple knights, and priests specialized in close combat leaped over the barricades.

“《Gust》!”

As the mages cast wind spells to blow away the smoke that hindered combat,

most warriors believed that the magical attacks had killed most of the slaves, leaving only stragglers to deal with.

That’s why they crossed the barricades to handle those remnants, but…

“…Huh?”

“Idiot, focus!”

What they witnessed beyond the barricades as the smoke cleared was, somehow, hundreds or thousands of slaves still charging like a wave despite the massive casualties.

And from that moment, hell began.

“D-damn it! There are too many!”

“Decius, w-watch out!”

Thousands of berserkers, comparable to a wave, charged with blazing eyes, willing to die if it meant killing their targets.

“Fire! Fire!”

“《Fire Ball》!”

“《Fire Arrow》!”

The magical attacks that could sweep away the slaves in one go had to be used conservatively due to the risk of friendly fire,

so the warriors and temple knights who had jumped beyond the barricades had to face the oncoming slaves directly.

“Weaklings fall back!”

SLASH!!!

“Brothers, form a defensive formation and hold! 《Holy Smite》!”

Of course, the mid-rank warriors who could use aura and mid-rank temple knights who could wield holy aura were managing to hold their ground.

Techniques that could cut down or crush dozens with a single swing, monstrous strength that could tear apart dozens with bare hands.

And high defensive capabilities based on armor clad in aura were what allowed them to face hundreds of slaves single-handedly.

But… the problem was, again, the number of slaves that kept coming endlessly no matter how many were killed.

Even the most clueless person with no concept of numbers would realize that tens of thousands must have converged here, which made it even stranger.

Why were so many slaves escaping and rushing here?

No, wasn’t this number of slaves unusual to begin with?

Consider this: while this city had many slaves, the total was around 50,000.

And the slaves rushing here also numbered in the tens of thousands…

But how could poorly armed slaves make it through the rampaging mobs in the capital?

Moreover, unlike the crazed citizens, these slaves clearly had a target as they charged, and they weren’t even fighting among themselves.

Even legion soldiers who had faced life and death together would start fighting and killing each other when they went mad,

yet these slaves, controlled through blatant discrimination, weren’t fighting among themselves?

Anyone would be certain with this much evidence.

These slaves weren’t a crowd driven mad by “that being’s” appearance like the other citizens, but an army sent by someone unknown with a clear purpose to attack them.

And one of those who had this thought, the Millenary Commander, happened to look down at the ground while catching his breath—

‘—This one!’

He spotted the severed head of someone who should not have been there.